The 3DS sure had a bumpy start, but it seems Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata’s hunch that sales will pick up (we reported last week) is right. According to Japan’s biggest video game magazine Famitsu, the 3DS sold a solid 378,114 units between December 5 and 11. Nintendo reported 371,326 units sold in the first two days after launch in Japan, but the last week was the most successful one for big N after initial interest got weaker (see graph below).

Apart from the general boost for the video game market as a whole observed every holiday season, there is one specific reason for the spike the 3DS has seen last week: Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3G, which went on sale in Japan on December 10, and apparently made many new players buy the system.

Based on Wii game Monster Hunter 3, Monster Hunter 3G is the first 3DS title in the fantasy action RPG series (which is especially popular on the Japanese market). According to Famitsu, the game was sold a whopping 471,055 times – in just two days (December 10 and 11).

Japanese Monster Hunter fans are also able to lay their hands on a cool special edition 3DS that hit stores at the same time the game did (pictured above), which probably also helped boost sales.